One Night Stand (1997)

You won't be disappointed!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If you only know Wesley Snipes from commercials for exercise equipment or Blade the part Vampire movies, then you probably don't remember him back before he was a cliché. Back when he did things like the Crazy "To Wong Foo".He is great in this movie. Everyone is great. You kinda know it is going to be one of those great little movies when you start seeing the usual suspects of great little indie movies like Kyle McLachlan and Robert Downey Jr plus of course, Julian Sands.Beautifully shot, emotionally wrenching, very human and tolerant about love in all it's aspects (gay/straight, bi-racial, etc) it is just a great great movie. I found it a feel-good movie even though there gut wrenching scenes of loss, mostly thanks to the brilliant Downey. I find it very life affirming.

I absolutely love this movie. Figgis' use of music gives me chills and I don't find some of the 'coincidences', in the movie's plot too unbelievable. Rather than being a clichéd Hollywood film on adultery, I've always thought it to be a joyful celebration of life in the face of mortality. Robert Downey Jnr. milks a whole scene for comedic effect solely with the use of his owl-like eyes. While a similar scene in your average film would be knee-deep in pap miserabilism. There is something subversive in the director and actors finding humour amidst such morbidity. But it's the music that keeps me coming back. Figgis' enthusiasm for jazz is well in evidence here and there's even a neat use of Nina Simone's 'Exactly Like You'.Natassja Kinski and Ming Na Wen don't hurt none either.

The movie didn't appeal to my wont for pure "feel-good" escapism - but then again neither did Leaving Las Vegas - and the movie follows a similar vein in exposing the uncomfortable nature of unadorned life littered with human flaws and gifts. What gave me a new perspective on the movie was the commentary that very closely correlated with the colour "unblindness" rampant in the society of the commentator. As a Canadian living in rainbow land - Vancouver - seeing mixed racial or ethnic pairings was no remarkable thing - and it didn't hit me what a large role that feature in the movie plays to American audiences. Further judgement was passed on moral issues surrounding homosexual activity and the resulting disease of AIDS. The real moral faux pas or transgression was infidelity - not homosexuality or pairing with someone who complements your phenotype - it is the breaking of trust. If the viewer is more moved by the "shocking" mixed racial and homo gendered sex than the break in trust - then it says something uncomfortable about our shaded view of the world. Divine cast.

I've just finished watching One Night Stand. I enjoyed it enough to want to write something and to read what others thought of it.Wow, some folks sure like to spew their venom! I'm surprised; I'm thankful that someone like Figgis actually has a presence in Hollywood, the home of superficial characters, simplistic plots, and unbelievable dialogue. Figgis doesn't fall into any of these traps.Instead, he goes against the grain by presenting a character, Max, played by Snipes (who does a superb job at understatement - who knew?) who is not entirely likable. He's arrogant, self-centered, and way-too-impulsive.Hey, wait a second: how am I going to identify with him? He's not all that slick or heroic (he discovers first-hand that his wife's having an affair and promptly loses her).But somehow Figgis drew me into the story. And he resisted using predictable ploys. He managed to reveal something important about this self-satisfied guy that turns things upside down: Max is terribly unsatisfied.Someone commented on the phoney quality of his wife's orgasm. Gee, maybe it wasn't the ACTRESS chewing the scenery, maybe it was the CHARACTER chewing it. D'you think that Mike may actually be sophisticated enough as a Director that he'd ask his ACTRESS to play her CHARACTER, which he scripted, as something of a loud-mouth? Seems plausible.The segment at the Dinner Party shows the complexity of the characters. During dinner, surrounded by people who are intricately connected with TV, Max makes a statement about the moral and artistic vacuity of the Industry. I mean, its almost as good as Peter Finch's "I'm mad as hell..." speech. (This alone made me admire Figgis and the character he created - a person who bites the hand that feeds him in an act of outrage takes guts!) Later, in the privacy of their bedroom, Max's wife tears into him, accusing him of being arrogant. Well, no, maybe he's just really sick of the way TV twists artists with integrity into hyenas.Doesn't her reaction help to explain Max's general malaise? He's caught in a career that's not all he thought it would be, that came between him and his best friend (R. Downey, Jr). And now his wife doesn't want to hear him speak critically of it.Question: Why are we genuinely surprised when we encounter something other than the flattest of characters? Answer: Because we don't recognize what is unfamiliar to us. And complex or nuanced charcters in a Hollywood movie are unfamiliar creatures.I respect Figgis for giving us characters whose next move you can't predict. It helps me regard the world with more nuance - which is precisely the sort of thing Art should be doing.